Howard's end

For those who know their E. M. Forster, this was the most obvious headline for the victory of Kevin Rudd in the Australian election. But a more theological gloss is perhaps needed.

So here is a quotation of Rudd's from The Sydney Morning Herald in October 2006:

"Sixty years after his execution, [Dietrich] Bonhoeffer's gospel of social justice still speaks to us. Regrettably, much of this social justice tradition of Christianity has been drowned out by a new brand of political Christianity which is being systematically exploited in Republican America and John Howard's Australia."

He continued: "It is a brand of Christianity that celebrates private morality and personal prosperity alone - to the virtual exclusion of equity, solidarity and compassion. It is also a brand of Christianity that carries with it the below-the-radar message that the Liberal Party is the natural party of God."

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